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Michael Vick Pit Bulls: A Grueling Rescue Tale

Michael vick pit bulls – How a handful of misfortune pit bulls started their lives with no chance of happiness and with a twist of fate are now enjoying their days.

Michael Vick Pit Bulls

Many people in the pit bull world reeled when they heard the news about Michael Vick’s pit bulls. Mike Vick and pit bulls apparently wasn’t a good combination, as the former sports star owned over a dozen pit bulls and used them for fighting. By all accounts, the dogs were cruelly treated, abused, and neglected. Some dogs would cower in corners, and others would growl at anyone nearby. Some despaired that these dogs could be rehabilitated, even experts. Mike vick news was everywhere.

Recovery of All Kinds of michael vick pit bulls

Over the past few years since their 2008 rescue, many of these dogs have gone on to recover and live happier lives. Some were adopted out and others kept back because of their extensive fighting careers. The Best Friends Animal Society of Kanab took care of rehabilitating 22 of these unfortunate pit bull dogs, and the recovery has been slow compared to the recovery of Michael Vick’s career.

One of the most frustrating and frightening aspects of the tale is the announcement by Michael Vick a few years ago that he wanted to become a dog owner again. After having neglected and abused dogs, many thought he was not suited to own dogs again and should not be allowed to do so, including humane societies. Of course, the rescue of these dogs and gradual rehabilitation has shone a light on the prevalence of dog fighting, ways to stop it, and the possibility of rehabilitation from mike vick dog fighting.

Adoptable Dogs and Public Perception

The difficulty of adopting the dogs – 22 were brought to the Best Friends Animal Shelter and most were adopted out over a period of years – is one of the most striking lessons from the incident. Once a dog has been poorly socialized, it takes a lot of time and slow progress towards turning an abused, terrified, angry dog into a sociable, loving, happy, and friendly dog. You have to socialize your dogs properly from the beginning in order to ensure their happiness, as making up for lost time later will be frustrating and a “two steps forward, one step back” process.

Changing people’s minds has also been central when it comes to rehabilitating Michael Vick pit bulls. Each of these dogs is not just a rehabilitated pit bull, but a very famous, publicly known dog. They were required to pass behavioral tests, be fostered successfully, and be adopted out by a loving family, but more than that – they were placed very carefully as breed ambassadors. Due to faulty statistics and media hype, pit bulls have been known as a dangerous dog for some time now and this was the opportunity to change the public’s mind. The growing backlash against pit bull-specific legislation is showing that the attempts worked.

The Seizure and Arrest

Though many know the story due to the media frenzy around it, if you aren’t familiar with it, Michael Vick was caught with six dozen abused dogs and fighting pit bulls at his Bad Newz Kennels location, and he was sentenced to 23 months of prison in a federal institution as a result. The seizure happened in April 2007, yet in the 2009 season, Vick was reinstated to his football glory as a quarterback. This shed an alarming light on our priorities as a society. Animal rights activists were appalled, and despite his work with the Humane Society, many oppose his involvement due to what is perceived as a lack of connection with and understanding of what he did and remorse for it.

While many of the dogs have been rehabilitated, two were not allowed to be adopted out because they were such good fighters, though they displayed sweet personalities after extensive rehabilitation. Many were adopted out and proved the same – that older dogs can change and that pit bulls aren’t necessarily dangerous, even when specifically trained and abused in order to encourage it. If these dogs could be rehabilitated, many realized, other dogs that are raised properly from the beginning are no more dangerous than any other breed of puppy.

There’s a lesson for many of us from the Michael vick pit bulls situation: be sure you know where your pit bull puppy comes from, be a responsible pet owner and train and socialize your puppies well to be good breed ambassadors, and be aware of what you can do to support the repeal of pit bull legislation. It’s important to support pit bull supplies companies and breeders that do not condone fighting in order to make a change in society’s view of pit bull fighting. Mike and pit bulls might be a bad combination, but society and pit bulls are learning to get along.